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I stopped directing in 2001 for four or five years, until I did the TV series 'Masters Of Horror.' I had been working steadily as a director since 1970. That's a long time. I was burned out.

I had a certain career as an actor that I think was quite personal as well, and had a lot of integrity, but I wasn't writing my own things or directing my own movies.

I've had lots of things that didn't work out, like TV shows. You learn a lot through mistakes - I learned that you have to be the captain of your ship. Actually, I own my ship.

I was working the Gulf of Mexico on oil rigs, flying helicopters. I'd lost my family to my years of failing as a songwriter. All I had were bills, child support, and grief. And I was about to get fired for not letting 24 hours go between the throttle and the bottle. It looked like I'd trashed my act. But there was something liberating about it.

Right before I got 'Sons of Anarchy,' I actually quit acting for 18 months and didn't read a single script, and I wrote a film. I felt like I needed to do something that I had control over, as an artist, and also just do something where I felt like I had some control over my life, as just a human, out in the world.

I dropped out of college and ended up making this feature film I wrote when I was 19 with some friends. It was terrible.

You know, I became a director out of necessity. I was writing comedies, and I couldn't find anybody to deliver it correctly.

I did my first film when I was in the final year of my graduation. At that time, I was still a kid, and I couldn't read the industry very well.

When my film flops, I believe it is my mistake. There have been times when I didn't come out of my house because my films didn't do well. I lock myself in for months. I don't talk to people. I feel bad for producer, director, for those who lost money. It's never about myself or my career alone.